Home Equity & Senior Housing
Bob Carlson’s ideas and strategies for managing home equity and choice of housing to maintain a budget
Found 126 Articles.
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Should Retirees Pay Off Their Mortgage?
Not long ago a key part of every retirement plan was paying off the mortgage. I’m told that a popular ritual was the mortgage-burning party, though I have never been to one. Now, it seems that fewer retirees consider paying down the mortgage to be important. To the contrary, maintaining a substantial mortgage frequently is […]
How to Ensure Your House Move is Legal
Moving is becoming harder than ever. I’m not referring to the significant expense and work needed to transport your goods from one home to another. That hassle and cost could be a drop in the bucket. The real problem is convincing the different states involved that you really have moved. Because of aggressive and contradictory […]
Reverse Mortgages: How to Withdraw Cash from Your Home
American seniors can take equity out of their homes without moving. They also don’t have to make payments during their lifetimes while they live in their homes. Reverse mortgages were almost unknown when I first wrote about them more than a decade ago. Now, they are much better known but are greatly misunderstood. Only 8,200 […]
The Changing Picture of State Taxes
State and local taxes are a higher portion of retirees’ expenses than in the past. These taxes are a more important factor in people’s decisions of where to live in retirement. Yet, many people are making decisions with the wrong information. If state and local taxes are important to you, do not rely on information […]
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Real Estate Bubble – Part 4
Are housing prices in the final blow off stage? Talk of the housing bubble is in at least its third year. Yet, home prices still rise at rapid rates in many areas. The recent drop in interest mortgage rates is likely to support current price levels and even higher home prices. A possible new warning […]
Is the Housing Bubble Real?
Housing prices in 2004 again were hot in a number of areas across the country. In three dozen metropolitan areas, home prices appreciated more than 20% in the last 12 months. In 14 major markets, prices more than doubled in the last 60 months. These strong growth markets primarily are in California, Nevada, Florida, New […]
Comparing Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Last month we introduced Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and their different pricing options. Each community combines independent living, assisted living, and a nursing home. Residents are guaranteed lifetime care. Some require a modest deposit and monthly fees. Others require a large payment that might be partially refundable to your heirs, and they charge lower […]
Your Home and Long-Term Care In One Package
More and more retirees are looking to solve their housing and long-term health care needs in one move. They are moving into facilities called continuing-care retirement communities, or CCRCs. These also are known as living-care communities. A CCRC has several types of living and health-care facilities in one community. Usually there is an independent living […]
